


a monster like me

by shinsouaizawa



Series: green & yellow [13]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Eventual Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji, Hurt Vinsmoke Sanji, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates As Family, Protective Roronoa Zoro, Slow Burn, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:03:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29658678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinsouaizawa/pseuds/shinsouaizawa
Summary: "I want to help people."Mihawk scoffed."Don't be stupid, you'll never help anyone, you're a useless mistake I shouldn't have bothered wasting my time turning. Do you really think humans would want you on their crew? You're a monster, Sanji."
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Series: green & yellow [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905427
Comments: 10
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @finral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my lovely friend sixgoldenwings over on tumblr came up with this AMAZING vamp!sanji AU and I wanted to have a play around with it! This is the first part, with more chapters to come soon, so I hope it does her ideas justice :)

At nineteen, he'd had a strange life.

The biological son of the former Germa empire he'd escaped with the aid of his sister onto the Orbit.

One rough night their ship was attacked by pirates and soon he found himself marooned on a vegetationless island with an old geezer and barely any water.

The months passed and it was only when he felt as if any breath would be his last did hope arrive.

If you could call it hope.

His name was Dracule Mihawk and before he'd had the chance to even reply, pained roared through his neck and he'd passed out.

Turns out the old man had made a deal in desperation to save his life.

The same old man would hold that guilt forever; no matter how much he tried to reassure him otherwise.

He hadn't lied when he'd said it, and he still believed it to this day; presented with the choice between death or being turned, he would always choose the latter.

Mihawk had sent for a rescue ship to assist Zeff and in turn taken him away. The old man had violently fought him about it but in the end there wasn't much choice in the matter.

The bloodlust of a newborn was erratic and no strings attached in nature. The elder had told him that Zeff’s life would be at risk if he stayed as there was no doubt the scent of blood would ultimately lead him down a path he would never be able to forgive himself for.

Not wishing to be the reason behind the old geezer's death he reluctantly agreed to join him.

Life at Mihawk’s awful creepy castle house thing proved incredibly boring and the man himself was hardly parental material. Nightmares, bouts of PTSD, and so on were treated with the same uninterest as every other conversation he tried to have with the elder.

Training was the worst though, and ultimately the reason he would finally leave the island and return back to Zeff.

Mihawk, an actual relic of his kind, had been around long enough to not be affected by the sun or blood urges, but for a newly turned like himself it was a different story.

His methods, torture, pure and simple, and at the age of just eight it was more than he could take. Being forced out into the sun, or chained with small blessed stakes stabbed through his limbs as a training exercise, or starved of blood to slowly improve the length of time he could go without a feed left mental wounds which still haunted him to this day.

And then, two years later, it all become too much. Having ran from the house after stealing a transponder snail he'd called Zeff on the number the old man had forced him to remember just in case this very moment arrived. He'd broken down in sobs the second he answered, the geezer's fury apparent even down the snail line.

_'You've been so brave, Sanji.'_

After that Zeff had told him to hand him over to Mihawk. He'd stood by the wall listening to the old man scream and bellow in rage before the elder eventually hung up.

_'We have agreed that your training is adequate enough for you to return to the cook. Get ready to leave, we will make tracks in an hour.'_

Seeing the Baratie for the first time was truly a magical experience but finally reuniting with Zeff was everything to him.

_'JIJI!'_

He'd sprinted across the deck into the awaiting arms of the old man who'd scooped him up and held him impossibly tight with tears he was clearly trying to hold back gathering in his eyes.

_'I shall make visits whenever I'm in the area to see how the boy is doing.'_

The daggers Zeff had thrown the elder's way were terrifying but a nod had followed regardless.

Things became easier after that and even the nightmares got better. The Baratie was his home and the crew had quickly grown to be family.

And then, one day-

* * *

Seeing green hair fall into the water, Sanji's eyes widened as he quickly kicked off his shoes before diving down. The saltwater pricked at his skin causing him to hiss but he continued on regardless. Finally locating the idiot he wrapped an arm around him before returning to the surface where long nose was waiting.

"Zoro!"

The swordsman’s friend assisted him in getting the wounded guy onto the deck.

"Zo-bro!"

He couldn't do what he needed to with an audience.

"You three, go help your other friend, I've got this."

"But-."

"Go!" He insisted.

Long nose nodded before herding the other two away as well leaving just him and green-haired guy.

Taking a deep breath he allowed his fangs to drop before nicking his arm. A small neat line of blood began to fall from the wound before it increased to a steady flow.

"A precision cut on a vein, we only serve the finest ingredients at the Baratie." He joked aloud although entirely to himself before propping the injured swordsman up against him and proceeding to press his wrist to the guy's mouth.

Green hair began to gag a few seconds later as he abruptly emerged from unconscious and began to struggle.

"W- what are you doing?!"

"Shut up and drink."

More gags followed as he continued to be difficult.

Sanji growled leaning close to the swordsman’s ear.

"Listen to me; you're going to drink the fuck up otherwise you're probably gonna' die from that ridiculous wound across your chest."

The guy's eyes turned lethal.

"Get off me!"

Sanji scoffed, pressing him down just that little bit harder in emphasis.

"I'm stronger than you and you won't win so stop trying to fight me."

Zoro weakly and quietly cried out a few seconds later as a result of his bloods regenerative properties stitching his wound back together.

"See, that wasn't too hard was it, mosshead?"

The guy growled.

"Don't you think people will find it weird that I'm suddenly not bleeding to death?"

"You fell into the water before anyone had a chance to see your wound. But just in case-." Sanji lifted the guy's shirt to reveal his completely healed chest before using a nail to cut him in roughly the same position but with much less life threatening depth. "There, you happy now?"

Green hair truly looked ready to murder him as this point.

"What are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He smirked. "Sorry but I don't kiss and tell."

"Zoro!"

Long nose rushed over and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay?"

Sanji walked away, ignoring the glare directed at him by the swordsman.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

Mihawk pushed open the door with little regard for knocking before walking inside.

Sanji was sat on the floor in the corner of the room, his hands shaking as they pulled at his hair.

Storming over he grabbed him by the wrist.

"What did you think you're playing at with that display yesterday?!"

"I wanted to save him."

"Why?!"

"I want to help people."

Mihawk scoffed.

"Don't be stupid, you'll never help anyone, you're a useless mistake I shouldn't have bothered wasting my time turning. Do you really think humans would want you on their crew? You're a monster, Sanji."

His eyes widened.

"I'm not..."

"Yes you are!" The elder bellowed. "Luckily though you're not entirely useless; the only good thing about you is that you have my blood running through your veins."

He scowled.

"The best thing you ever did for me was bring me back to Zeff."

Mihawk scoffed before glancing through the porthole into the dining hall of the restuarant where the Straw Hats were eating breakfast.

"What is your infatuation with these pointless creatures?"

"They're not pointless!"

"So you value their lives?"

"Yes."

"Then do you really trust yourself to board their ship and not cause a massacre?"

Sanji froze.

"I mean... we both know what happened back when you first came to the castle, right; are you sure you want a repeat?"

His eyes were wide and blank.

"I'll leave you with that thought."

And with that he walked off.

He couldn't breathe, a panic attack rapidly approaching as his hand gripped the material of his shirt tight. He heard someone shout but couldn't distinguish who through the ringing of his ears. Hands were on him seconds later before he was pulled against someone's chest.

A familiar scent.

A caring scent.

A protective scent.

Glancing up shakily he saw Zeff.

"Jiji?"

"It's okay, just breathe."

He nodded quickly, re-burying himself against the old man's chest.

"You're okay."

* * *

It took a while for him to find the unwanted guest but soon enough their paths met.

"That's a dirty tactic making Sanji feel bad about himself like that..."

"You trust him to sail with a crew alone? My my Red Leg, how irresponsible."

"He is my son, not yours; don't tell me how to raise my own kid."

Mihawk smirked at the protectiveness on display.

"Sanji has never once hurt another member of this crew, nor has he lost control, or bitten a customer. He feeds from me in routine and can walk in the sun without issue; he should be able to make his own choices without you breathing down his neck."

Zeff paused.

"You act like you know Sanji but you don’t; anyone that knew him even a little would realise that locking him away sets him back months. You don't need a heavy-handed approach to raising him, you just need to love him, that's all. Hell, the kid throws it around in buckets because amazingly, even after everything that boy has gone through, he still sees the good in everyone. I never wanted Sanji to go with you because I knew he wouldn't be the same kid afterwards. I knew you wouldn't look after him and I wish I could've been wrong. D'you know how scared he was when he came back to us? The kid would scream the restaurant down every night for months; that's what you did, to an eight-year-old boy, for two years. But because he's strong he grew into the person he is today and he's finding his place in this world. If you think you can continue to come here and interfere then you're very much mistaken; I won't let you hurt him anymore, so get the hell of my ship and don't come back."

* * *

Sanji, who upon hearing the beginnings of the two men's conversation had taken a seat outside on the deck, sighed before lighting up a cigarette as he listened in.

As footsteps approached he looked up to see the swordsman.

Embarrassed by the act he'd used earlier when saving green hair, he avoided eye contact.

The guy sat down beside him with a wince before taking a deep breath.

"Has Luffy said anything to you?"

Sanji took a drag from his cigarette before blowing the smoke away from the swordsman.

"Yeah."

"Was it about you joining our crew by any chance?"

He became defensive immediately as he sensed where this conversation was going.

"And what if it was?"

"Are you going to say yes?"

"That's none of your business."

The mosshead scoffed.

"I'm a member of his crew; it absolutely is my business if he's going to invite some bloodsucking fre-."

Sanji winced.

"Shit, I didn't-."

"No it's fine; I- I was going to say no anyway." He lied, hoping his tone sounded genuine even though it's speed and desperation said otherwise. "There are so many better cooks out there, you don't need me."

"Hey-."

"Thanks for helping protect the restaurant."

And with that he quickly got to his feet and rushed off.

* * *

Reaching the staff food hall he pressed his head against the wood of the door, breathing deeply for a few seconds as he willed himself not to give in the torrent of emotion within him before walking inside.

The crew were all busy eating the soup he'd prepared that morning; they turned to him as he entered but didn't say a way as they simply went back to eating.

He furrowed an eyebrow.

"Who made this?" One of them called out.

"I did!" Sanji smiled.

"It tastes terrible!"

The jab cut deep.

"W-what?"

"Yeah, tastes like blood."

His eyes widened.

"Disgusting!"

"Why is it so red, there's not tomatoes in this?!"

"Blegh!"

"S-stop..." He forced the shaky words from his lips.

The final nail in the coffin was watching Zeff shove the bowl away in disgust.

"I know what you're doing but please... just stop."

It was an act, he knew it was... but it still hurt.

_'Yeah, tastes like blood.'_

His hand came up to pull at his hair.

"I didn't..."

"Sanji." Zeff was now in front of him.

"I didn't try to-."

"I know."

"But they-."

"They've known what you are for some time now."

He went numb at the revelation, his breath leaving in one swoop and not returning.

"They care about _you_ brat, not what you are, never have."

Zeff guided his hand away from his hair and gave it a squeeze.

"That straw hat kid knows talent when he sees it, that's why he asked you to be on his crew; don't let the opportunity pass you by, you'll only regret it later."

"But... what about you, and- and the restaurant?"

"Will be right here when you get back." The old man smiled before patting him on the shoulder. "Now go on; get packed, they said they were leaving soon."

He nodded before rushing off.

* * *

As he walked towards the boat it was getting harder and harder not to-

"Sanji!"

He stilled.

"Don't catch a cold."

A sob broke from his lips, his hand clamping over his mouth as tears began to stream down his cheeks.

Turning back to the Baratie and Zeff on the balcony he collapsed to his knees.

"OWNER ZEFF!"

He pressed his head to the deck.

"THANK YOU FOR ALL THE DAMN THINGS YOU'VE DONE FOR ME OVER ALL THESE YEARS! I'LL NEVER FORGET YOUR KINDNESS... FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!"

He was damn near hysterical as he picked himself up and crossed the last of the distance to board the boat.

"You ready to go?" Luffy asked softly.

Scrubbing a hand down his face he nodded.

"Yeah, thank you."

The kid gave a nod.

The sail fell and soon the wind began to carry them away from the Baratie.

Looking back at the restaurant which had become his lifeline, he smiled, waving at his crew mates and the old man until they became just specks in the distance.

"They really love you." Luffy smiled. "You have a great family."

He nodded.

* * *

The journey to the Conomi Islands didn't prove too long and yet still felt like a millennium thanks to a certain green-haired idiot.

Zoro knew what he was.

The problem was, he was the _only_ one who knew what he was which meant he couldn't sneeze without the swordsman finding it suspicious.

It was as if he thought he would just rip all their throats out just for fun at any time.

How rude.

But anyway, after eventually reaching the island he was able to stretch his legs and think about the main issue he needed to find a solution for.

Feeding.

His last feed had been with Zeff just before he'd left with the Straw Hats and although he wasn't feeling it yet, there would come a point where he needed to find a food source.

He wasn't sure what that could be though.

Animal blood made him feel nauseous but it would quench his hunger at least for a little while; too much would make him sick though so it couldn't be a long term solution.

Feeding from the crew was out.

There was no way he'd touch any of them.

Sanji sighed.

_Looks like it has to be animals._

* * *

In theory his plan would have been a great success and left him feeling refreshed and ready to sort out whatever issue they were about to face.

There was one small problem though.

A chance to sneak off to hunt hadn't presented itself since they’d made landfall earlier in the day and soon enough he'd found himself morally unable to leave. He knew he couldn’t just expect his new crewmates to solve everything just so he could eat, they were probably hungry too and yet they weren’t complaining.

His decision was cemented though as the green-haired idiot somehow got himself captured by Arlong’s guys. He ended up spending the afternoon scoping out Arlong Park to gather information. Nami made an appearance at one point which saw Zoro throwing himself into the pool while bound; Sanji had been seconds away from sprinting over to drag him out when she’d done the job herself.

_What an moron…_

Nami had spouted some bull regarding why she saved him but it was clearly a lie; it would take an idiot not to realise she was just fooling the fishmen.

* * *

_~Half An Hour Later~_

“She killed him! Nami killed him!”

“What?”

“Nami killed Usopp!”

* * *

As it turned out, Nami had _not_ in fact killed Usopp which was proven by the fact that even as the moron had told them about the incident which he’d seen unfold, he could smell long nose’s scent wandering around to the South. The truly unpleasant wet dog smell was clearly due to the ‘falling into the pool’ part of the account.

With a groan he walked off towards the beach.

“Hey, where are you going?!” The swordsman questioned.

“None of your damn business.”

* * *

He found long nose by the cliff face, exhaustion clear on his features. Having sniffed out some wild berries en-route, he took a seat beside his crewmate and held them out in offering.

“Here.”

Usopp inspected the bundle of berries before a smile came to his face as he transferred them to his own palm.

“Thanks!”

The sniper scarfed them down quickly.

“How are you doing, you’re not hurt are you?”

He shook his head.

“Nah, this blood isn’t mine; Nami stabbed her hand to make it look like she stabbed me.”

_Clever._

“Once you’re finished up with those we need to get you back to the others, they all think you’re dead thanks to those useless friends of mosshead’s.”

Usopp smirked.

“Yeah I quite like being alive.”

Sanji smiled before giving him a pat him on the back.

“Come on.”

* * *

The mosshead, long nose, and himself had been waiting in town for the return of their Captain when Nami’s desperate screams had ripped into them as she plunged the knife into the tattoo on her arm over and over and over. Thankfully Luffy had stopped her before she could mutilate herself any further.

“Luffy… help me…”

Hearing the pain of their crewmate had lit a fire beneath them.

“HE’S GONNA’ PAY!”

Their Captain’s expression was deadly as he approached.

“Let’s go.”

“Right.”

* * *

After Luffy had landed a punch so hard on Arlong that he’d gone scraping across the concrete and into the wall at the other side of the Park, chaos had erupted.

“That’s for making our navigator cry!”

Sanji snarled as he saw the fishmen approaching his Captain who was currently distracted in anger.

“Back off; you’re out of your league!”

Sending out a sweeping kick he knocked a large group of them away.

“Hey Luffy, don’t hog all the action.” He smirked.

“Oh, sorry.”

* * *

The fight continued on until some octopus guy made an appearance and threatened to crush Luffy, who was currently trapped because of course he was…, with a stone column. He quickly used a kick to break it much to the delight of their Captain.

“Sanji that was so totally awesome-ly awesome!”

“Nice try!”

Before he even had a chance to react Arlong burst out into laughter as he slammed his foot down onto the ground causing it to crack.

“Luffy!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

Feet still encased, the straw hat kid suddenly disappeared from view as he sunk down into the water.

“LUFFY!”

He sprinted towards the pool, his breathing erratic.

Zoro’s arm came out to block his path.

“Wait, don’t be stupid! Those fishmen want us to jump into the water after him, they have an obvious advantage in an underwater fight.”

“I’m surprised you care.” He teased although there was no humour behind it in their current situation; he just needed the swordsman to get out of the way without using force.

Mosshead scoffed.

“Fine, get yourself killed…”

“Do you have a better plan?!”

“You’re not going to be able to defeat those guys down there.”

“I won’t know until I try.” He admitted, placing his hand on Zoro’s arm and moving it out of his way, the swordsman allowing him to do so.

Sanji took a breath.

“Don’t worry, whatever happens, I’ll save your Captain.”

And with that, he dived.

* * *

The water burnt as he descended deeper and deeper into the pool. There was still no sign of Luffy and he was already running out of air.

_Come on, come on…_

Suddenly his arm was grabbed.

Eyes widening he scowled before kicking out at the fish-man, his attack slowed by the water.

_Dammit, I need to put more power into my kicks!_

The fish-man grinned.

“You smell different.” Yanking him closer using his still trapped arm, Sanji winced as he began to sniff around his neck before a malicious grin followed showing an array of sharp teeth.

His eyes widened as he attempted to get away but ultimately failed, the fish-man’s teeth sinking into his neck.

“GAH!”

Bubbles left his mouth in a cluster as he clamped his lips together to avoid losing any more oxygen. He screwed his eyes closed against the pain as he tried to dislodge the fish-man from his neck.

Growling he managed to land a heavy kick which thankfully sent his attacker flying backwards towards the edge of the pool.

He needed to breathe though and bad.

In desperation he kicked furiously as he made his way back towards the surface, the light becoming stronger and stronger. He was about fifty metres out when the fish-man reappeared, floating above him to block his path.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

_I’m going to pass out._

* * *

Fighting the stupid octopus was proving annoying and Zoro found himself unable to fully concentrate while concerned about his Captain… and curly brows, if he was being truly honest with himself.

Arlong suddenly began to laugh.

He furrowed an eyebrow with a snarl.

“What’s so funny?”

The fish-man leader pointed towards the water.

His eyes widened.

Blood had risen to the surface.

A lot of blood.

“Your little friend never stood a chance.” He chuckled.

Zoro roared as he launched another attack.

“Shut up!”

* * *

With the literal last of his breaths, Sanji delivered a kick to the side of the fish-man’s head knocking him out instantly before desperately clawing his way up to the surface. As soon as he broke it he opened his mouth wide and inhaled the air desperately.

He glanced over to see Zoro frozen in place staring at him.

“What the hell, is that blood yours?!” He shouted.

“Yeah.” Sanji replied nonchalantly, as if his skin wasn’t also burning from the saltwater. “Anyway.” He took a deep breath before diving back down.

“COOK!”

He had to get to Luffy, he made a promise.

His neck was really starting to become a problem though. He knew vampires absolutely could pass out from bloodloss but he never expected to ever have a personal experience of it.

_I wonder if they can die from it?_

The saltwater felt like it was melting his skin at this point. He’d never been in water for a length of time as long as this before and it was showing.

Eventually reaching the bottom of the pool, a strange sight greeted him.

Luffy’s body was lying on the pool floor… but there was no head.

Following the trail of neck he swam across to the far back where he found Nami’s sister keeping his head above water.

“Oh, hey Sanji.”

He groaned.

“You’re such an idiot, you know that?!”

“Could you free my feet please?”

“Ughhh, fineeeee.”

“Thank you.”

Diving under once again he headed back to his Captain’s body hoping that he wouldn’t encounter another fish-man en-route; however…

“Guhhhhhhh…”

Caught off-guard he’d found a punch to his stomach releasing his precious oxygen store once again.

_Damn it! Fuck these stupid fucking fish-men!”_

Truly pissed off, he unleashed his premium attack reserved for the truest of assholes and proceeded to knock the guy unconscious just like his buddy. Conscious of time he quickly lined up his kick before slamming it down on the stone holding Luffy down and watched it shatter, his Captain’s body springing free up to the surface as soon as it did.

He glanced back at the unconscious fish-man.

_I am going to filet you!_

* * *

Reaching the surface once more the swordsman seemed to have at least made leeway with the octo-guy, he turned to him as he emerged.

“Luffy?!”

“He’s alive… and free…” He reassured through haggard breaths, his boiling arms lacking the strength needed to pull himself out of the pool.

“SANJI!”

Luffy sprung onto the scene, his arms outstretching to retrieve him from the water and deposit him on land. He lay on his side as he coughed up what appeared to be gallons of saltwater, his arm wrapped around his stomach.

Their Captain knelt beside him, hand hovering over the bite wound to his neck as if scared that touching it would cause him more pain. His expression changed quickly to a furious rage.

“Luffy, it’s okay…” He attempted, not wanting the straw hat kid to feel as if he was worth worrying about, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“NO!” Luffy turned to Arlong. “You hurt my cook!”

The fish-man chuckled.

“So what if we did?!”

“GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!”

* * *

After the fight was over he’d snuck away from the crew and borrowed a hose from the tangerine fields to wash away the saltwater from his skin. The feeling was bliss as the burning sensation disappeared.

His neck, quite annoyingly, was taking it’s time to heal.

Walking back to the others, the swordsman furrowed an eyebrow.

“How are you more wet than when you left?”

“None of your business.” He replied simply.

“Are we just waiting on Nami?” Usopp asked.

“Yeah, she said she had something to do before we left.” Luffy answered before his eyes widened in joy. “Oh wait, you haven’t seen our ship yet, have you, Sanji?!”

He was surprised by the level of enthusiasm.

“Uhh, no, I haven’t.”

“Come on, we’ll show you!” Their Captain rushed off.

Long nose smirked.

“Her name is Merry.”

Sanji nodded with a smile.

* * *

It was his first night on the Merry and he was truly loving having his own kitchen. Granted it was slap bang in the galley where the entire crew would gather and subsequently annoy him as he worked, but it was still his own.

He’d prepared a small feast to celebrate which was laid out across the table and now it was time for him to retire to the deck for a smoke.

"Hey, Sanji, why aren't you eating?!" Luffy asked.

"Oh I already ate." He lied, finishing up drying a plate.

"Liar." Zoro added.

_Shit._

"Sanji-kun, you can't not eat anything, come on, there's plenty to go around."

"You're too kind, Nami-swan."

He offered a nervous smile, rubbing the back of his neck as he walked over to the table and took a seat.

Glaring daggers at the smirk the swordsman was wearing he grabbed a fork before dropping a slice of meat onto his plate.

If he was going to have to eat someone he at least hoped that carnivorous foods would be the least awful.

He was wrong.

* * *

Long after the crew had fallen asleep he shuffled free from his hammock and dropped to the floor on shaky legs. Using the wall to keep himself upright he navigated himself out onto the deck and over to the railing before violently throwing up his meal and some of the blood from his body also.

A chuckle could be heard behind him.

He scowled, leaning down against the wooden railing and pressing his head to it.

"That was a mean trick you pulled back there."

"Just trying to prove a point."

"And what is that?" He challenged.

"You're not human; you're a monster so stop pretending."

Despite how much it hurt, Sanji weakly turned with a chuckle, opening his arms out wide as he approached the swordsman.

"Go on then, here's your shot; kill me."

Zoro looked confused.

"If you're as _brave_ and _strong_ as they say you are, then kill me."

Sanji smirked.

"You can't, can you?"

"Shut up!"

"Well whatever, I'm going back to bed."

And he did, leaving the swordsman out on the deck.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was really fun to write
> 
> hope you enjoy :)

Sanji couldn’t get drunk, something he discovered back on the Baratie during celebrations with the crew. He never thought it would come in helpful until the townspeople of Whisky Peak decided to jump them during the night.

After helping out the marimo, with no thanks, they’d met a beautiful blue-haired girl with a stupid Baroque Works alias. Luffy being Luffy refused not to help literally anyone he met and so along she came with them.

As if he didn’t already have enough to worry about keeping his secret from the three crewmates he already had who didn’t know, he now also had a princess and a duck.

Yes… a duck.

Speaking of said duck, the stupid thing hadn’t left him alone since they’d came aboard and it was really starting to get on his nerves. It kept sniffing him, which obviously didn’t look suspicious at all.

Was he really going to threaten a duck?

Apparently so…

“Look.”

Karoo’s head tilted to the side.

“I need you to stop following me and especially stop sniffing me, they’re going to wonder why the hell you’re doing it and that’s bad, okay, so go away.”

The duck scowled.

“Either go away or I’ll deep fry you okay?”

He cried in fear.

“Shhhh!”

But it was no use.

Sanji scrubbed a hand down his face.

Vivi walked over a few seconds later looking furious.

“What did you say to Karoo?”

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh we were just talking about Alabasta, I’ve obviously never been so I was just wondering what it was like there.”

She looked less than sold.

“You asked, my duck?”

“Yeah why not I suppose, it’s not every day you get the chance to talk to a large oversized animal.”

Zoro smirked from his now ‘usual spot’ beside the stairs.

“Shut up, mosshead!”

Vivi’s eyes were warning as she walked off.

He exhaled deeply.

_For now it would do._

* * *

Nami had suddenly taken ill after their adventure in Little Garden leaving them all on high alert. Desperate to find an island they eventually found one through the bitterly cold fog.

The doctor they needed wasn’t in town and so, much to the displeasure of mosshead, he’d offered to assist Luffy up the mountain to get their navigator medical help.

All had been going pretty smoothly until they managed to piss off a pack of bunny things which ultimately caused an avalanche.

Sanji remembered the fear for his crewmates as they’d slid down the slope at a deadly speed until a ledge appeared at the end of the cliff face, a large tree protruding from the ground in their path.

Taking a breath and accepting his fate, he grabbed the two of them before throwing them to safety in the unaffected trail of snow to the side.

“Nami is your main priority, got it?!”

“SANJI!”

He’d collided hard a few seconds later, black dots clouding his vision as he found himself no longer able to find purchase due to the sheer power of the avalanche.

His glove was caught and subsequently removed which he could only guess was Luffy attempting to grab him. He appreciated the effort but knew it was fruitless.

Back throbbing, his consciousness soon began to fade before everything went black.

* * *

The patient was deeply unconscious as she began her observation but immediately something stood out.

"What's wrong?" Chopper asked.

"His spine has already healed a little since we last checked him.” She explained. “Just what the hell are you, kid?"

* * *

Wading back to consciousness through an immense amount of pain he felt hands on him. Unable to open his eyes he couldn’t help how pathetic his whimpers sounded. He couldn’t remember what he’d been doing or even where he was but the fact that he had been unconscious didn’t fill him with hope. He just wanted the pain to stop.

A hand swiped away the hair of his fringe which had stuck to his forehead with a surprising amount of gentle consideration.

“He’s just a damn kid.” Spoke the fuzzy voice. “Who would do something like that?”

“What do you mean?” Asked another.

“He’s so damn jumpy too, that’s never a good sign.” The person behind the voice took a deep breath. “Just rest son, we ain’t gonna’ hurt you here.”

Normally he would never take a statement such as let at face value, he had learnt from too much painful experience not to, but in his current state, injured, pained, and terrifyingly weak from his ever-increasing hunger he didn’t have much of a choice and soon his body betrayed his mind as he fell back into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next time he awoke the pain had mostly subsided and his back felt less like it was in numerous pieces. With a groan he pushed himself upright, his spine only giving him the slightest hints of protest.

It was then that he noticed the small creature ‘hiding’ in the doorway.

“Don’t you have that backwards?” He smiled.

With a gasp the raccoon dog maintained its grip on the doorframe before reversing his pose so that his body was actually hidden behind the wall.

Sanji smirked.

“What’s your name?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Well you don’t have to if you don’t want to, that’s just what people do when they meet each other.” He explained. “Like my name is Sanji.”

_And I am very VERY hungry._

He scorned himself.

_You can’t eat the talking raccoon dog._

But he was SOOOOO hungry.

_No._

Fine.

_God I sound like Luffy._

“I made you something to eat.” The raccoon dog announced.

“Did you?”

He glanced to where the creature was looking and found a salad with some very random ingredient choices sitting on the side table beside the bed. It did look delicious, the raccoon dog had done a pretty good job with it, but it still caused him to gag regardless.

“Are- are you not hungry? Would you like something else?” The thing sounded almost upset which only made him feel worse.

“No! Uh, no, sorry, I’m hungry.”

Not wanting to look ungrateful, or to waste food, he forced himself to eat the offered meal. Sanji made sure to glance around the rooms whilst eating to find somewhere he could ultimately throw it back up later without drawing anyone’s attention.

“Thanks, it’s good.” Sanji smiled.

“I don’t like it when you compliment me you bastard!” The creature fawned.

“It certainly seems like you do.” He smirked. “So my crew, are they here?”

“The girl is fine, Doctorine is treating her; and the other guy wants to eat me!”

He tried very hard not to laugh.

“Just ignore him, he’s an idiot.”

Sanji couldn’t have been more thankful when the bowl was eventually empty. He placed it down on the sidetable.

“Thank you for taking care of us.”

The raccoon dog did his cute little dance again.

“Oh shut up, you bastard!”

* * *

“What the hell are you doing out here?” Came the stern voice of the demon doctor.

Sanji didn’t respond, continuing to take a drag of his cigarette as he looked out at the truly incredible view from the top of the mountain.

“I’ve had worse.”

“Worse than six broken ribs and a spinal fissure?”

He scoffed.

“You’d be surprised.”

“How old are you kid?”

“Nineteen.”

The doctor grumbled.

“And how old are you really?”

He blew out the smoke away from her.

“I figured you’d know; the raccoon seemed to.”

“You know, your friend climbed all three miles of this mountain with his bare hands to get the two of you help, either you people are just damn crazy or you sure do care about each other something fierce.”

“That damn idiot… I told him to focus on Nami, what was he thinking?”

“I take it he doesn’t know what you are?”

Sanji shook his head.

She smirked with a smile.

“Well he showed just as much concern for you as he did her, the kid nearly broke my wrist he gripped it that tight when he begged me to save the pair of you.”

“Sounds like Luffy.” He took another drag. “I’ve been meaning to ask, why can the creature thing talk?”

“What? Oh, Chopper? He ate the human-human fruit.”

“Of course he did…”

“So this isn’t your first encounter with devil fruits then?”

He chuckled.

“I wish.”

The doctor took a deep breath.

“Could you do me a favour?”

He turned to her.

“Given… what you are, could you talk to Chopper? He tries to act tough about it but he’s so self-conscious of himself that I don’t think he’ll ever leave. A boy like that shouldn’t be cooped up in some castle with an old coot, he should be out there exploring the world, and now that you guys are here he actually has the chance to do that.”

“I don’t know if I’m the right person to-.” Sanji began honestly before he was interrupted.

“Please, it would mean the world to him?”

“Fine.”

* * *

His planned conversation with the ~~creature~~ Chopper was quickly put on hold when a fight broke out between Luffy and the asshole they’d encountered at sea on their way to the island. Thankfully their Captain seemed to be doing just fine against the strange guy so he wasn’t worried.

Stood outside the castle, Sanji lit up a cigarette as he watched Luffy head to the roof with the flag.

He noticed Chopper’s wide eyed response to it all.

A few seconds later…

"Sanji?"

"Yeah?"

"Doctorine said there was something strange about you, something that made you not human.”

“Yeah there is.” He agreed.

“And he- he can stretch with his arms.”

“He’s a rubberman.”

Chopper went quiet, nervously fiddling with his paws as he kicked at the snow beneath his hooves.

“What- what does that mean?”

Sanji took a breath.

"It means we're monsters." He followed it with a smile in the hope he could get through to the self-conscious little reindeer.

And it worked.

Chopper’s eyes widened with a gasp before he grinned.

"So you're not scared of me?"

He shook his head as he knelt down to be at the little guy's height.

"Are you scared of me being a vampire?" He whispered.

The reindeer shook his head.

"Luffy is an amazing person, if you need help then he'll drop everything to make it right." Sanji reassured. “I’m sure I heard him ask you something important earlier, Nami too.”

“Yeah, they asked me to join your crew... But- but I’m a reindeer, I don’t belong on a ship full of humans. I mean… just look at me, I’m a reindeer but I walk on two legs and I talk and everything. Animals aren’t supposed to be able to do that stuff.” He paused before… “And I have a blue nose.”

Sanji reached out a finger and lightly tapped him on the nose with a smile.

“You were alone for a long time before you met the doctor, right?”

Chopper nodded.

“And you’re scared of leaving her because she’s your home?”

A tear trickled down the reindeer’s cheek.

“Yeah.”

“Speaking from experience, Luffy doesn’t really like taking no for an answer, so if he asked you to join us then he means it.”

"Even though I have a blue nose?"

"Especially because you have a blue nose." He teased.

"CHOPPER!"

The reindeer gasped as he looked up the roof, Luffy holding the miraculously still intact sakura skull and cross bones proudly aloft.

“I AM YOUR NAKAMA!”

His Captain proceeded to send Wapol shooting off beyond the horizon with a chuckle before the idiot lost his footing and fell from the roof into a snow heap just shy of them.

“Ahh, Straw Hat!”

“Shishishi.”

Sanji rolled his eyes, grabbing Luffy by the collar and pulling him out.

“Be more careful next time!”

* * *

Snagging a light from one of the candles hung from the wall he lit his cigarette before heading towards the door. A hand came to rest on his shoulder causing him to startle.

“Good work back there.”

Sanji exhaled.

“Why did you kick Chopper out? You hurt him you know?”

“He never would have made the jump otherwise, and anyway, I wasn’t planning on that being my only goodbye.”

He furrowed an eyebrow but she didn’t elaborate further.

“Thank you for everything you did for my son.”

He smiled.

* * *

Stood aboard the Merry with Chopper on his shoulders he spun the little guy around as the others drunkenly celebrated around them. Luffy had called for a party and boy did they deserve to relax; it truly had been one thing after the other for the past three weeks.

Speaking of their Captain, he was currently half-entangled with Usopp as the two merrily danced while singing a sea shanty that they definitely didn’t know the proper words to. Zoro was busy working his way through yet another bottle of sake, and Nami was stood by the railing looking bummed by the fact Vivi was fussing over Karoo.

“Karoo, what were you doing frozen in the river.”

“Wahhhhh!”

Chopper nodded before leaning down to whisper in his ear.

“Which one is Zoro?”

“That would be moss for brains, he’s the dumb swordsman.”

“Oh, okay; well apparently he saw him in the river and went to try and help him then he got frozen.”

Nami growled, hitting mosshead.

“So it’s your fault!”

“Owww, lay off you damn witch!”

“What did you call me?!”

“You heard me!”

Sanji smirked.

Glancing up Chopper looked a little out of his depth by the whole thing.

Maybe holding such a wild event on his first night hadn’t been the best idea after all.

Before he could ask how the little guy was doing, cannons erupted from the island and suddenly…

Their newest crewmate gasped.

Sakura, or more accurately, pink-coloured snow, began to fall from the sky painting the night with a warm glow.

Sanji smiled, nudging Chopper.

The little guy’s lip began to wobble before he burst into tears, quickly wiping them away with his arm.

“I’m not crying.” He stated.

“Nah, I’m sure it’s just the fog, Chopper, it does that to ya’ sometimes, right Usopp?” Zoro helped as he walked over.

“Yeah, it’ll get ya’.”

“WOW!” Luffy beamed in awe as the rest of the crew joined them to look out at the spectacle.

Looking up to the castle, the demon doctor was stood at the top of the mountain, just about in view. He heard Chopper gasp before.

“Doctor… Doctorine… THANK YOU!”

He heard a sniffle from beside them, both Nami and Vivi trying their hardest not to cry at the little reindeer’s heartfelt screams.

Chopper was suddenly plucked from his shoulders; it wasn’t too hard to guess who was behind it. Luffy wrapped an arm around him with a grin.

“Come sing with us, Chopper!” He pulled something from his pocket. “And stick these chopsticks up your nose.”

Sanji scrubbed a hand down his face.

“Luffy I swear to god…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter is almost finished so you won't have to wait too long for the next installment.
> 
> as always leave your thoughts and emotions down in the comments, i love reading them all :)
> 
> thanks and see you on the next chapter


	3. Chapter 3

Stumbling his way to the anchor room below deck he could barely see straight, he just knew he needed to be as far away from his crewmates as possible. As much as he didn’t want them to have to see him like this, he also couldn’t shake the horrifying thought of losing himself and biting anyone aboard.

A particularly powerful hunger pain shot through his core sending him down to his knees on the wooden deck, his head pressing against the planks as he breathed haggardly, trying desperately not to cry out. Sweat was pouring from him in buckets as he panted heavily.

“Fuck…”

His fangs tore through his gums as they descended as if begging for him to feed.

Footsteps could be heard descending which sent a shiver of terror down his spine.

“No…”

“Cook?”

“Go away!”

That didn’t seem to stop the stupid swordsman though as he walked closer regardless.

“Did you hear me, I said go away!” He barked, baring his fangs in the hope of scaring him into returning to safety.

Mosshead scoffed.

“You’ve gotten yourself in quite a predicament, haven’t you?”

“Oh go fuck yourself…” He really, **really** wasn’t in the mood. “Go back upstairs before I tear out your damn vocal chords.”

The only response was a smirk.

The swordsman closed the hatch he’d descended from before taking a seat beside the stairs.

“So, any reason you’re down here on your own?”

_Is he really that stupid?_

“Wh- wh-aayyy- d’you think?” He replied around a pained cry, his fingers almost piercing the skin of his chest as he gripped tight.

“Doesn’t Chopper know?”

“Yeah.”

Apparently that was the mosshead’s entire line of questioning.

“And?”

“So can’t he help you with this?”

Sanji scoffed.

“Help me how, he’s a fucking reindeer?”

“You know, like give you blood bags or something?” Zoro offered.

“Gahhhh, they don’t work; well, not on me anyway, too young.”

“Too young?”

He closed his eyes and imagined a world where he didn’t have to put up with both these things at once.

“There are four types of vampires; Elders, civilised, newbloods, and newborns; in your first year of being turned you’re considered a newborn, then anyone under a millennium is a newblood, anyone older is civilised; and the rarest kind are Elders who sire the newborns.”

“So when were you turned?”

“Dammit do you have to do this now?!” He growled.

“Hey I’m just making conversation.” The swordsman held his hands up.

Sanji rolled his eyes.

“When I was eight.”

Zoro furrowed an eyebrow.

“Then how do you look, you know, not eight?”

“I should do but Mihawk never did work out what’s causing me to age. I have an idea what might be causing it but I’m definitely not sharing that right now, or ever actually.”

“A vampire who actually ages, huh, I suppose that’s quite useful.”

“Guhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” He panted, fangs scratching against the wooden planks as he barely had the strength to lift himself from the deck.

“You really are a mess.”

“Fuck… off…” He cursed weakly.

“You never did answer why you were down here?”

“Because!” Sanji erupted before lowering what hints of a voice he had left. “Because this ship is practically a human bento box and I have to ride this out.”

“How long can you go without a feed?”

He didn’t answer.

Zoro’s head tilted to the side expectant of a reply.

“Like hell would I tell you!”

“Why?”

“You already probably know how to kill me; I’m not helping you further, you bastard!”

“I heard that old guy mention you being trained by Mihawk, apparently he taught you how to go longer without feeding.”

He snarled.

“You-.”

“So how long is it?”

“Jus- just because he tried to train me… didn’t mean it worked; fuck!” He slammed a hand against the deck as he rode out yet another hunger pain.

“Let’s see; so you probably fed just before you left the Baratie, then when went straight to Nami’s place which took two days, Loguetown was two, Reverse Mountain took us a week to get there, Whiskey Peak was two, Little Garden was three, Drum Island took six, Alabasta adds another week, and here we are three days out from there so that’s…”

“Thirty-two days.” He stated.

“And what’s your previous record?”

Sanji took a breath.

“Thirty.”

Zoro stilled at that.

“Shit blondie; how the hell are you functioning?”

Holding up his arm, the bandage around his wrist had unwrapped itself revealing a deep bite wound.

The swordsman’s eyes widened.

“You drank… from yourself?”

He nodded.

“I was desperate and it’s probably why I’m still going after those two extra days; didn’t taste great though and I’m sure it’ll come back to bite me in the ass somehow.”

“So do vampires drink each other’s blood?”

“The civilised can, by time you reach their age your tastes change and you’re able to ingest more than you previously could, including human foods; it helps them blend in and live more normal lives than the rest of us. When I tried it tasted disgusted and anyway, you’re far more likely to get your throat ripped out by a civilised then to be fed from, they’re not usually the biggest fans of newbloods.”

Zoro seemed to find interest in something.

“Why hasn’t it healed?”

“I don’t have enough blood for my body to stitch it back together, it’s already nearly shutting down as is, it couldn’t waste the last drops I have left on something so trivial.”

The swordsman exhaled.

“If you’ve been this bad then why the hell didn’t you feed from one of us?”

Sanji scoffed.

“How dare you!”

“What?!”

“I don’t look at you all and see some damn buffet, you’re my crew, I’d rather shrivel and die down here then hurt a single one of you.”

That certainly seemed to catch him off-guard.

“Now if you’re done questioning me could you go please?”

But the marimo didn’t turn to leave; instead he got to his feet before kneeling beside him and holding out his wrist.

“Here.”

Sanji quickly shook his head.

“Look, just drink the damn stuff before you disintegrate, or whatever the hell you weirdos do.”

He clamped his mouth shook.

“Oh don’t be stubborn!”

Pressing his head to the deck he growled.

“I won’t hurt you.”

“And I’m sure Luffy would be pretty upset if you left him without a cook. What did you say to me back on that restaurant of yours, _‘drink the fuck up otherwise you're probably gonna' die’_.”

_He was serious about this…_

Sanji winced as he pushed himself upright to sit beside his crewmate, his eyes only seeing the genuine expression the mosshead was portraying; a nervousness came over him.

“Zoro… I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s been _so_ long since I last fed-.”

“And that’s why you need to feed from me.” The swordsman interrupted before he could reach his point.

“It’s been _so_ long since I last fed… that I might not be able to stop myself.” He admitted painfully.

To his merit, the marimo seemed serious about the whole thing.

“I trust you.”

Sanji scoffed.

“Why? You certainly haven’t before now.”

“I’ve trusted you for a while.”

He furrowed an eyebrow.

“Since when?”

“Arlong Park.”

_But that was…_

“You barely even knew me then.”

“I know, and yet despite me calling you a bloodsucking freak back at the Baratie you still nearly got your throat ripped out and boiled in saltwater to save our Captain; you had my respect from that point on.”

“And then you made me eat food from the feast that night…” He reminded bitterly.

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Hey I said I trusted you I never said I liked you back then, I’m still not thrilled with the whole ‘you being a vampire and the crew doesn’t know’ thing.”

“Then here’s your chance to solve that problem.” He laughed although there was no real humour to it.

“Stop telling me to kill you.”

He silenced.

“Sorry.”

Sanji looked around.

“We need an emergency plan just in case.”

“Like what?”

“The guy’s room is below us.”

Debating with himself whether or not to hand over something so deadly he eventually relented and slipped his hand into the inner pocket of his suit jacket before holding the bottle out to the marimo.

“What’s this?” His crewmate took the object to inspect.

“Holy water.”

“Wait, isn’t this stuff like-?”

“Incredibly painful to vampires, yeah, it is.”

“Then why the hell are you giving it to me?”

“Because if I can’t stop myself then you’re gonna’ throw that over me and shout for one of those idiots to help. The amount of pain I’ll be in would give them enough time to make it here and get you away from me.”

“Fine.” The swordsman held out his wrist once again. “Now drink.”

He took a firm grip before taking a breath and sinking his teeth down.

Marimo’s blood tasted better than anything he’d ever drank before but that was probably the hunger talking. He could almost feel his strength returning to him as he drank on and on; he didn’t want the bliss to end.

_No…_

He couldn’t stop.

_Please… Zoro…_

“Sanji? Hey?” A soft voice cut through the haze before his eyes tracked to meet his gaze, a hand on his shoulder grounding him. “You can stop, I trust you.”

His eyes widened as he quickly retracted his fangs and scurried away from the mosshead to the far side of the room, shame heavy in his expression as he tried to keep his breathing calm.

“Sorry… I’m really sorry I-.”

“See, told you you could-.” Zoro began before his eyes rolled back.

“Shit!”

He dived forward to catch his crewmate before he could hit the deck. With the recovered strength he had, Sanji took the weight of the swordsman across his shoulders before heading up to the main deck and across to the makeshift infirmary, depositing him down on the floor in the galley.

“Don’t die until I get back.”

Rushing out of the room he headed down to the bunk room and practically shook Chopper from his hammock.

“Huh, Sanji, what is it?” The reindeer asked sleepily.

“I need your help.”

He rubbed at his eyes.

“Why?”

“I might have nearly killed Zoro…”

“WHAAA-!”

Sanji clamped a hand over his crewmate’s mouth in aid of not waking the entire ship.

The little guy was suddenly awake and meaning business as he dropped down and sprinted out, grabbing his medical bag en-route.

“Galley?”

“Yeah.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“He offered to let me feed from him but I couldn’t stop so-.”

Chopper knelt down beside Zoro and checked his pulse.

“He’s probably gonna’ need a transfusion.”

The reindeer walked over to the fridge and opened the drawer in the bottom which seemed to be filled with blood packets. Pulling out one labelled ‘Zoro’ he quickly began to set up the lines along with an IV.

“Hold this please.”

He took the packet.

“Hey Chopper, do I make a good IV stand?”

The joke had the desired effect in calming down his crewmate a little as he giggled.

Once he’d finished all that was left to do was wait.

* * *

Finding himself returning from an unconsciousness he hadn’t realised he’d even lost, Zoro groaned as he cracked open an eye.

_Why the hell am I in the galley?_

Hearing the sound of soft snores he turned to find Sanji sat on the bench beside the table, one arm holding up an IV bag while the other was wrapped around Chopper who was on his lap huddled close against his chest.

He smiled.

Pushing himself upright he inspected his bandaged wrist before everything quickly came back to him.

_Oh yeah, he drank from me. Guess he was right when he said he wouldn’t be able to stop._

They couldn’t stay in here through the night otherwise someone would find them in the morning and start asking questions.

“Hey shitty cook; come on, wakey wakey.”

A grumble followed before Sanji awoke, Chopper also stirring against him.

“Zoro?” The reindeer asked before gasping and jumping down. “Zoro, you’re awake!”

“It’ll take more than some mild bloodloss to kill me.”

“It wasn’t mild.” The blonde’s voice stated almost inaudibly, laden with guilt.

He didn’t press it though instead just waiting for the doctor to disconnect him from the various needles before getting cautiously to his feet.

“There we go.” Chopper smiled. “Oh hey, Sanji, are you-.”

They turned to the spot where the cook had been but were surprised to find it vacant.

“Ahh, Sanji!”

Zoro took a breath.

“Just leave him for now; he probably needs some time to himself.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“He’s not going to hurt-.”

“I didn’t say that!” Chopper looked offended. “I just meant being alone when you’re upset can make you feel worse.”

“I doubt you’d get much out of the cook even if you did stay with him, not tonight anyway.”

The doctor nodded.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“I’m fine, promise; now come on, let’s head to bed, you look tired.”


	4. Chapter 4

Coughing and spluttering into consciousness he screwed his eyes closed against the pure agony in his chest.

“Cook?” The concerned voice of the absolute last person he wanted to see right now spoke up before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Get away from me…”

He coughed once again, his hand coming away drenched in blood.

“Shit…”

“Is that normal?” Mosshead asked.

He shook his head.

“My body’s rejecting the blood… I think… I think I screwed up…”

Zoro’s eyes widened.

“But you’re… why would it reject blood?”

“It’s either because I drank my own, or I went too long without a feed, maybe both.”

“I’ll get Chopper!” He couldn’t ignore the concern in his tone feeling it was misplaced.

* * *

It could only have been five minutes max since the swordsman left and yet he somehow felt ninety-times worse than he had previously.

“Don’t let them see me… please… please don’t let them see me.” He begged, knowing exactly how pathetic he sounded as he did.

“Could you grab him, we’ll use the anchor room again.”

He found himself lifted a few seconds later, his head protesting the movement.

“It’s okay Sanji, you’re okay.” The doctor reassured.

“Chopper…” He began weakly.

“Yeah?”

“If you can’t help me, it’s not your fault.”

The little guy’s eyes widened in horror, his lip wobbling a little as he adamantly shook his head.

“No! I will treat you; there’s no one in this world who can’t be helped!”

“I’m a vampire… you don’t know-.” He coughed. “You don’t know how we work, and that’s okay…”

“Sanji please just… just hold on until I figure something out, okay? Please!”

Not wanting to upset him further he nodded.

“Okay.”

He couldn’t stop the black spots dancing in his vision though and soon he found himself reclaimed by the darkness once again.

* * *

Zoro couldn’t help but be freaked out by just how extraordinarily ill the cook looked as he lay panting, his chest having to work overtime as it struggled to even keep him breathing. Sweat was cascading down from his brow and the extreme pallor of his skin was like nothing he’d ever seen before.

“Chopper… what- what do we do?”

“He needs blood but there’s a strong chance his body might reject it again.”

“Then use mine.”

He offered his arm out immediately.

“Zoro you’ve already lost too much earlier, even after having a transfusion it’s still too risky.”

“Will the cook die otherwise?”

Chopper’s lip wobbled.

“Yes.”

“Can you give your own?”

“It might be dangerous for him to consume two different blood types while ill like this, so no.”

“Then we don’t have a choice.” He stated firmly before pulling wado from her scabbard and quickly cutting the threads of the fresh stitches he’d received earlier. His blood began to trickle immediately as he quickly held it over the blonde’s mouth and clenched his fist.

“ZORO! There were better ways to do that!”

“We don’t have time to fuss around, this was quicker.”

A small growl followed from the back of the cook’s throat but it wasn’t threatening, instead it sounded… almost desperate or thankful. They watched as his fangs descended before his eyes sluggishly opened a few seconds later.

“W-what are you doing?” His tone was so weak.

“Just drink, please.”

The blonde’s lip wobbled, his face screwing up as he clamped his mouth closed. He backed up against the wall, sitting back against it and bringing his knees up to his chest, his head coming to rest down on his arms as he shook.

“Stop…”

“Cook you need to-.”

“I’m not worth all this…”

“Sanji!” Chopper began but Zoro reached down and placed his hand on the reindeer’s shoulder before crossing the short distance across the room and kneeling down in front of his crewmate.

“What’s worrying you?”

“Your wrist… I… I already hurt you enough earlier and now you’re hurt again; you can’t give me more blood, you’ll d-.”

“Chopper isn’t going to let that happen to either of us, right, Chopper?”

The doctor nodded quickly.

“You need the blood and I’m the only source you can use right now, so please.”

As the blonde looked up to meet his gaze his eyes looked broken.

“Why are you doing this?! Why are you both so determined to help me?! I’m a monster! I’m nothing! I’m just-.”

Chopper rushed across the room and threw himself at Sanji, burying against him as he sobbed.

“No Sanji! We’re both monsters, right?! That’s what you said back home! And you’re my friend! You’re my friend and I don’t want to lose you!”

The cook looked taken aback as he quickly wrapped his arms around the little guy and held him tight.

“Please don’t go! Please let us help you Sanji!”

“O-okay…”

Zoro released a thankful exhale before shoving the wrist he currently had his hand clamped over in front of the blonde.

“Drink!”

And he did just that.

It was a minute or so later when his fangs retracted.

“Chopper!”

“Right!”

The doctor made quick work of stitching his wrist back up and he couldn’t help but notice the cook’s hands helping keep him upright as the ship seemed to rock back and forth even stronger than it had been earlier.

“I’m sorry…”

He turned to the idiot.

“What for? You didn’t plan to get sick, shitty eyebrows; don’t apologise for things you can’t control.”

A small smile came to the blonde’s face, the guy looking nervous but still happy.

Chopper finished checking him over.

“Sanji didn’t take too much; I think you’ll be fine just sleeping it off some more. I’ll keep an eye out just in case you-.”

“I can do that.” The cook offered. “I’m too wired to get any sleep right now anyway. You deserve some rest Chopper; it’s been a busy night.”

The doctor nodded.

He slowly got to his feet and found his balance easier than he thought he would before heading for the stairs.

“Thank you, both of you.”

“You don’t have to thank us for saving your life, dumb cook.”

“Yeah!” Chopper agreed. “You’re nakama.”

A light gasp could be heard behind them and although he didn’t turn round to look, he was sure he heard light sobs as the hatch clicked shut.


End file.
